Well, that escalated quickly. What started as a Zoom call turned into a full-blown political firestorm. President Biden’s offhand “garbage” comment about Trump supporters is the latest controversy pulling the political world into yet another spiral of outrage, rebuttals, and damage control. As if tensions weren’t already high heading into the election season.
Let’s unpack what’s going on. During a call with Voto Latino on Tuesday, Biden was asked about a tasteless joke made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at a Trump rally. Hinchcliffe’s punchline? Referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” It didn’t take long for Democrats to condemn the comment, demanding accountability from Trump’s camp. But Biden’s response—“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters”—lit a different fire altogether.
Obama called us clingers.
Hillary called us deplorables.
Kamala calls us fascists.
And Biden just called us garbage.They don’t respect us & don’t want unity.
But we do.
We want to Make America Great Again.
Our coalition is for ALL AMERICANS.
And in 7 days, we will UNITE… pic.twitter.com/WYZePbYOyK— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) October 30, 2024
Naturally, the backlash was swift. Republicans jumped on Biden’s words, interpreting them as an insult to the 74.2 million Americans who voted for Trump in 2020. Biden, clearly aware of the brewing outrage, took to Twitter that evening, clarifying he was calling out hate speech—not every Trump voter. His tweet tried to thread the needle, saying, “What I meant was the rhetoric about Puerto Rico is garbage, and that’s what I stand against.”
But the damage was done. And that’s where Vice President Kamala Harris stepped in. On Wednesday, Harris addressed the controversy for the first time, telling reporters that she “strongly disagrees” with criticizing voters based on their political preferences. She emphasized that her approach has always been about representing everyone, regardless of who they voted for—an obvious attempt to cool things down.
Vice President Harris responds to President Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments: “He clarified his comments. Let me clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.” pic.twitter.com/kmUfjIrytz
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 30, 2024
Harris also revealed that Biden had called her after the event, though she was quick to note they didn’t discuss his remarks directly. Her campaign team doubled down, too, with senior adviser Stephanie Cutter dismissing Republican outrage as “faux.” Cutter accused Trump and his allies of worse offenses, reminding the public that the comedian’s offensive comments about Puerto Ricans were met with silence from GOP leaders.
So far, big-name Republicans like Ted Cruz and Rick Scott have been keeping pretty quiet. The whole situation just highlights the political circus we’re in. With every word dissected and magnified, it’s clear that surviving the minefield of today’s politics will take more than just a few “clarifications” and cleverly crafted tweets.
